Edward J Wood (EdWoodJr@WebTV.net)

>From the Files of the Galaxy Police:
Kiyone's Secret Weapon

(The GP are baffled by a terrorist plot, but Kiyone saves the day - with
a little help from her friend)
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The Yagami skidded across the hangar deck and crashed into the rear
bulkhead. The cockpit filled with smoke. Kiyone and Mihoshi coughed and
waved the smoke away from their faces.

"Mihoshi?" Kiyone glared at her blonde partner,
"Didn't I ask you to let me handle the approach?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Well then," Kiyone's voice rose in an angry crescendo, "Why didn't you
listen to me?"

"Uh... sorry?"

Kiyone screamed. She grabbed Mihoshi by the throat and shook her until
the brain rattled in her head. "You almost killed us both! You stupid
bubblehead!"

The cockpit radio snapped on, and the Chief's face appeared on the
monitor. Instantly Kiyone swallowed her anger and snapped to attention -
a skill she had learned all too well.

"Detective First Class Kiyone," said the Chief,
"Report to me in the central control room."

"Right away, sir!" said Kiyone. She saluted and turned to the cockpit
door.

"Kiyone?" said Mihoshi, in a small pitiful voice,
"Do you want me to...?"

"No!" snapped Kiyone. "I don't want you to do anything! Just sit there
and don't move!"

Kiyone stomped down the steps from the Yagami - if there was a door, she
would have slammed it - and stormed across the hangar deck. Damn that
Mihoshi! Kiyone couldn't decide which she hated most: Mihoshi's dumb
blonde hair, her squeaky voice, her beach bunny tan... Kiyone shook her
head and heaved a deep sigh of resignation.

As she walked along the corridor, Kiyone's anger faded, and she began to
notice her surroundings. She was aboard an orbital
defense platform that had been found in deep space. Every access panel
was open; Galaxy Police technicians swarmed like ants, flipping switches
and splicing wires.

When she reached the central control room,
Kiyone spotted the Chief: he was shouting orders into a microphone. He
was unshaved and sweaty, and the floor was littered with empty coffee
cups - these men had a busy sleepless night behind them. In a corner, a
tall thin man was sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth and
laughing to himself.

Kiyone snapped to attention and saluted, but before she could report,
the Chief raised his hand to silence her. Kiyone cringed when she saw
her reflection in a window: her long green hair was a tangled mess, her
face and uniform were streaked with soot. Luckily the Chief was too busy
to notice.

All the technicians stopped and waited. The Chief pointed. Switches were
thrown. There was a mechanical hum, and a computer voice began to speak:

"Electrical generators accessed. Shutdown in five, four, three, two,
one..."

The lights flickered, and the station went dark.
There was another mechanical hum, and then the station lit up again.

"Emergency generators online," said the computer voice. The Chief cursed
and punched the wall. The man on the floor screamed with laughter. "I
told you! I told you!" he said.

"Detective First Class Kiyone!" bellowed the Chief. "I want you to take
this man to the nearest airlock and throw him into space!"

"Uh... sir..."

"Never mind," said the Chief. He turned to a pair of guards who were
standing by. "Get him ready to ship out!" he snapped. The guards started
strapping the man into a strait jacket.

"Sir," said Kiyone, "May I ask what's going on?"

"This... person," said the Chief, "is Lu Ni, a self-proclaimed
scientific genius."

"The greatest scientific genius in all the universe!" screamed Lu Ni.

"He has armed this defense platform with a powerful laser cannon, aimed
right at the planet Jurai." The Chief paused. "And we can't shut it
down."

"There's no way to shut it down!" screamed Lu Ni. "My system is
foolproof!" And he started laughing again.

"The weapon system is shielded," the Chief went on. "We can't access the
computer, the engines won't fire, the generators won't shut down! We've
tried everything!"

"A powerful weapon with no off switch," thought Kiyone. "Sounds like one
of Washu's crazy inventions."

"Washu? Ha!" snapped Lu Ni. "I taught her everything she knows!"

The Chief handed Kiyone an official file disc.
"Your orders are to transport the prisoner to Galaxy Police
Headquarters. And throw him down the deepest darkest hole you can find!
Dismissed!"

"Just what I need," thought Kiyone. "Another nut case on my hands."

As she led him down the corridor to the hangar deck, Lu Ni laughed and
taunted the technicians. Kiyone sank deep into a black depression. Was
this what her career had come down to? Was she no more than a shuttle
pilot
for disturbed prisoners?

"Weapon system powering up," said the computer voice. "Commence fire in
T minus thirty minutes."

"Do you hear that!" screamed Lu Ni. "There's nothing you can do! You've
only got thirty minutes! Thirty minutes!"

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Kiyone. "I'll bet that in thirty seconds, Mihoshi
could..."

Kiyone smiled a crooked smile.

In the Yagami cockpit, Kiyone found Mihoshi
huddled in her seat, hiding behind a comic book. Mihoshi cringed at the
approach of her partner.

"There you are," said Kiyone, her voice as soft and sweet as honey.

There was a puzzled look in Mihoshi's big brown eyes. "I thought you
were still mad."

"Not at all," said Kiyone, and Mihoshi smiled.
"As a matter of fact," Kiyone went on, "I've got a special job for you."

"Really!" She jumped up and saluted. "Detective First Class Mihoshi, at
your service!"

The last time she went through, the corridor was abuzz with activity.
But now the technicians fell silent as Kiyone headed for the central
control room, because Mihoshi, "the walking disaster area", was with
her. All around the platform, tools and papers dropped to the floor as
technicians raced for the hangar deck. Some even jumped into the
emergency escape pods.

"Where's everyone going?" asked Mihoshi, looking around the deserted
control room.

"They're on coffee break."

"They're in an awful hurry."

"Never mind about them." With her hands on Mihoshi's shoulders, Kiyone
gently steered her to the chair at the control panel. Mihoshi sat down,
smiling at the pretty flashing lights.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just watch the indicators," said Kiyone, backing away toward the exit.

"Just leave it to me," came the cheerful reply.

"I'm counting on you, Mihoshi!" Kiyone paused at the door to give her
partner a friendly wave, then Kiyone turned and ran down that corridor
as fast as she could. She jumped into the Yagami cockpit and began
frantically punching in the pre-launch sequence.

"Come on, Mihoshi! What's taking you so long!"

"Warning," said the computer voice. "That procedure is not recommended."

Kiyone smiled. The Yagami's engines began to power up.

"Warning," said the computer voice. "Initiate emergency procedures!"

"What's going on?" asked Lu Ni. "What's happening to my station?"

"Shut up!" snapped Kiyone. She steered the Yagami's nose toward the
launch bay, her fingers tightened around the throttle. "Where are you,
Mihoshi?"

"Danger! Danger!" said the computer voice.
"Core breach imminent! Evacuate! Evacuate!"

"Kiyone!" Mihoshi burst into the Yagami cockpit, tears streaming down
her face. "I think I..."

Kiyone pushed Mihoshi into her seat and hit the throttle; the Yagami
blew through the launch bay like a shot from a cannon. Behind them, the
station exploded. Mihoshi screamed, and Kiyone gripped the helm as the
blast picked up the ship and spun it out of control. But Kiyone held on
tight, and when the shock wave passed, Kiyone steered a straight course.

The Chief reappeared on the monitor. "Congratulations, Detective First
Class Kiyone!"
he said. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you!"

"All in a day's work," said Kiyone, reeking of false modesty. She rubbed
her hands together: this could mean bonus money!
A commendation! A promotion! Reassignment to Headquarters!

"Kiyone...?" Mihoshi was looking down at the floor, a pitiful look in
her big brown eyes. "I messed up again, didn't I..."

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Kiyone casually. "These things happen."

Mihoshi's face lit up with a big smile. Kiyone remembered the characters
in her partner's name: Mi and Hoshi, "beautiful star". And Kiyone's face
lit up with a smile of her own.

"Why don't you lie down and have a nap," said Kiyone. "I'll wake you
when we get to HQ."

Mihoshi snatched up her comic book and ran back to her quarters. Kiyone
went to the dispenser for a drink. From the brig, Kiyone could hear Lu
Ni droning to himself.

"My station... my beautiful station... what did she do to my
station...?"

"Poor guy," thought Kiyone, "I know exactly how you feel."

"The equipment was perfect," he went on. "The system was perfect. The
whole plan was foolproof."

"Maybe," said Kiyone, sipping her drink. "But it wasn't Mihoshi-proof."